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The chilling image that won the award for year’s top press photo

Getty ImagesThe winner of the World Press Photo, photographer Burhan Ozbilici (right), and the managing director of the World Press Photo Foundation, Lars Boering.

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An image that captures the moment the Russian ambassador to Turkey was assassinated by a gun-wielding, off-duty police officer has won top prize at the World Press Photo awards.

The photographer, Burhan Özbilici of the Associated Press, found himself at the center of a crime scene in December while attending an art show at a gallery in Ankara. He described for CNN the moment gunfire erupted: “I heard shots, very loud — bam bam bam. ... In difficult situations, I’m calm. I have a responsibility to record the event.”

The photo was “an explosive image that really spoke to the hatred of our times,” said Mary F. Calvert, a member of the World Press Photo jury.

Although Özbilici was commended for his bravery, the move to award him top prize was steeped in controversy with one of the judges, Stuart Franklin, calling it “morally problematic.” In an opinion piece for the Guardian, Franklin wrote that the photo’s “impact is undeniable, but the winner of the World Press Photo of the Year furthers the compact between martyrdom and publicity.”

Taking a stand in Baton Rouge

The image of a young woman, Ieshia Evans, standing stoically while protesting police brutality in Baton Rouge, La., became a powerful symbol in the summer of 2016. Evans, a 28-year-old nurse and mother of one, was arrested by riot police as she silently stood her ground. She had traveled to Baton Rouge from Pennsylvania to protest the death of Alton Sterling, a black man who was shot by two white police officers.

World Press Photo 2017/Commissioned by the New York Times

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Iraq’s battle to reclaim its cities

As the military effort to retake Mosul, Iraq, escalated into a sixth week in November, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis became displaced attempting to flee a fiery war zone. Sergey Ponomarev of the New York Times captured a family seeking to escape as oil fields burned in the background, symbolizing the dozens of families who were taking flight each day.

World Press Photo 2017/Commissioned by The Associated Press

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Migrant crossing

As hundreds of refugees from overflowing camps near the Greek border waded through river streams in an attempt to reach Macedonia in March, AP photographer Vadim Ghirda caught a woman leaning on two men for assistance.

Offensive on Mosul

Getty’s Laurent Van der Stockt captured this photo in November as Iraqi troops advanced against Islamic State fighters in the streets of Mosul. In this photo, two children wait outside as members of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces rummage through houses, searching for signs of Islamic State militants during a final offensive push.

World Press Photo 2017/Santi Palacios

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Left alone

Over the summer, Spanish photographer Santi Palacios captured the rescue of an 11-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy from Nigeria, whose mother had died in Libya. The siblings were rescued from a boat carrying roughly 150 refugees from Libya to Italy while crossing the Mediterranean Sea. According to the International Organization for Migration, more than a quarter-million migrants entered Europe by sea in 2016. More than 3,000 people died last year while attempting to cross.

World Press Photo 2017/commissioned by Agence France-Presse

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Inside the Philippines’ most overcrowded jail

Inside Quezon City jail in Manila, inmates compete for space and sleep where they can, often on the cold floor or on the steps of staircases or in makeshift hammocks. Nearly 4,000 inmates are crushed inside a building that was originally designed for 800 more than 60 years ago. As documented by Agence France-Presse, conditions within the jails are deteriorating quickly as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on crime escalates.

World Press Photo 2017/commissioned by The New York Times

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‘They are slaughtering us like animals’

Daniel Berehulak from the New York Times captured this image of a 6-year-old crying at her father’s funeral in the Philippines as President Duterte intensified his antidrug campaign. More than 2,000 people were killed at the hands of police during the campaign, according to the New York Times special report headlined “They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals.” Last year, Berehulak documented 57 homicides over 35 days.

World Press Photo 2017/commissioned by The New York Times

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‘They are slaughtering us like animals’

Daniel Berehulak from the New York Times captured this image of a 6-year-old crying at her father’s funeral in the Philippines as President Duterte intensified his antidrug campaign. More than 2,000 people were killed at the hands of police during the campaign, according to the New York Times special report headlined “They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals.” Last year, Berehulak documented 57 homicides over 35 days.

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